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That brings us to the end of our coverage for the final T20I between New Zealand and Bangladesh. Rain played spoilsport again but the match concluded under DLS method. Bangladesh would be disappointed with the missed opportunity but they can hold their heads high for such an impressive showing in alien conditions. For New Zealand, they have some work to do especially in the batting department. They were found wanting against quality fast bowling and most of the right-handers were at sea, especially against Shoriful Islam. Like always, it was a pleasure bringing all the live coverage from this encounter. Till the next time, this is me (Arya Sekhar Chakraborty) bidding adieu also on behalf of my fellow commentator and dear friend Sooryanarayanan Sesha. Ciao!
Shanto joins Santner in receiving the series trophy which is shared by Bangladesh and New Zealand. A hard-fought series with the two teams fighting tooth and nail and while the weather was a bummer, it's fair to say that this was a fitting result.
Najmul Hossain Shanto (Bangladesh captain): Bowlers did a great job but batters not getting runs today. I felt all the bowlers bowled really well. I think in T20s starts are very important. The batters who got set didn't take it deep which cost us today.
Shoriful Islam is the Player of the Series for an outstanding and consistent display of bowling throughout this rubber!
New Zealand skipper Mitchell Santner is the Player of the Match for his outstanding spell of 4/16. Here's what he has to say: It was nice. Obviously the wind can be challenging at times but I was trying to change the pace and get some bounce out of the wicket. The seamers bowled really well on this wicket. We knew up top that the powerplay was key and it was not easy to bowl six overs of seam in the powerplay but we did really well to take early wickets. One end was going to be a lot more challenging than the other but they bowled really well and then I could come in after that and float some up. We always knew there was going to be a bit or rain around. The bowlers did the job upfront which was nice and it was nice to get across the line. A pretty tough fought series.
New Zealand won by 17 runs (DLS method)
Finn Allen 38(31) | Mitchell Santner 4/16(4) Najmul Hossain Shanto 17(15) | Shoriful Islam 2/17(3.4)
A terribly dampening way to finish the series which had everything in it but in the end, you can't really predict with mother nature. Bangladesh will be disappointed at leaving the country without winning the series despite being the dominant team in away conditions. The target of 111 never looked like troubling the New Zealand batting line up especially given the pitches Mount Maunganui has produced in the past.
However the Bangladesh bowlers had other ideas and reduced the hosts to 49/5 before the duo of Mitchell Santner and Jimmy Neesham steadied the ship and eventually took them over the finish line. Finn Allen and Tim Seifert came out to open the innings with Allen beginning in an attacking manner. He smashed Tanvir Islam for a four and a six to get things underway. Mahedi Hasan made two crucial breakthroughs in the form of Seifert and Daryl Mitchell's wicket. Shoriful Islam's sensational tour was rounded off with another brilliant spell.
He sneaked through the defence of Glenn Phillips with a beautiful inswinger and then dismissed Finn Allen in a similar manner a few overs later. In between there was a terrible mix up between Allen and Mark Chapman which led to the downfall of the latter. Bangladesh were seven runs ahead on DLS and had the rain came down at that juncture, Bangladesh might have won the series.
Santner and Jimmy Neesham resurrected the sinking ship and was ahead by 17 runs when play was called off. Neesham began in his own positive demeanor smashing a few lusty blows to bring the equation down very quickly. He eventually remained unbeaten on 28 off 20 deliveries which included a four and a couple of sixes while Santner was undefeated on 18 which came in 20 deliveries. For Bangladesh, Shoriful and Mahedi were the pick of the bowlers with a couple of wickets each.
4:18 PM local time, 8:48 AM IST: Handshakes! And that is that - the game has been called off and New Zealand win by 17 runs via the DLS method. It was inevitable given the torrential downpour we've had and the ground has taken a proper battering. The 3-match series has been leveled 1-1!
4:03 PM local time, 08:33 AM IST: It's absolutely pelting down in Mount Maunganui at the moment and it will be safe to say that we won't have any resumption.Bucketing down at the moment with thunder and lightning sounds in the background.
It has started to rain as we see some spectators taking shelter. The umpires have had enough and the groundsmen are being called in. New Zealand are 17 runs ahead on DLS.
14.4 Shoriful Islam to Jimmy Neesham, tails into the block hole at the stumps. Neesham shuffles across before squeezing it out to the bowler
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Bay Oval, Mount Maunganui
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